Young Gerber by Friedrich Torberg

Set in Vienna, Austria. Reread on 2019/01: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bso8Ld5HA_v/

I think #highschool and school in general imitates and defines real life and to so many of us those years are simply the worst in our lives. In so many more different ways than we care to share, we are forever trapped in the defining moments lived through in high school which mark the adults we become or unbecome. Unbecoming is a great word to keep in mind when reading the #younggerber . The story of #gerber is intrinsically a #comingofage tale that does not come to any age at all. It doesn’t go anywhere. It doesn’t grow. It doesn’t evolve. It’s not allowed to. Instead the system and its preconceived categories asphyxiate any alternative for empathy or understanding. There is only one way out for Gerber as it was for so many other #austrian teenagers at the time. That feeling of overwhelming failure and no way out is also very representative of the time and place described and lived by #friedrichtorberg himself. #vienna in the 1930s rejected Jewish #torberg , banned his books and selected them for Nazi #bookburnings . At the end, Torberg survived and even returned to Austria. His survival and return are both an unequivocal act of #resistance and the only hope we can provide to anyone going through those same critical high school years. #highlyrecommended #friedrichkantor#wien #austrianliterature#derschülergerber #pushkinpress #sadistic#rereadmarathon#DerSchülerGerberhatabsolviert #suicide

Reviewed on 2017/11: https://www.instagram.com/p/BbviHkQnFYb/

#gerber is the quintessential example of #teenageangstand the #authoritarian school system in which he studies complicates everything even more. #torberg masterfully develops the plot through the different stages of this young man’s psyche: overconfidence, rebellion, alliances, failures and depression. There is simply #nowayout for him or second chances. The ending is not very difficult to predict. However the genius behind this book has painstakingly mapped the path in which Gerber himself and the #tyrannical and inhumane he belongs to have led him to. A classic and an outstanding piece of literature. #highlyrecommended #younggerber#friedrichtorberg #friedrichkantor #vienna#wien #austrianliterature#derschülergerber #pushkinpress #sadistic#horribleteachers #teacherstudent#freethestudents #suicide